Healthy Choices and Life-Skills Empowerment Program

  • A Advocacy Campaign/Project

A Active

Key Information

The Joedy Foundation (JF) is working  with educational and administrative stakeholders and parents to solve challenges that have affected students, pupils, parents and teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Issues that have affected the community of Mt. Elgon, Kenya included early marriages/pregancies, drug abuse and acoholism, school unrest and stikes, and child/parent conflicts.

JF conducted art therapy for those who were affected and trained teachers on how to help students with mental health challenges and substance use. JF has also helped address school strikes and violence. The organization also supported the re-enrolment of girls who dropped out due to due to early pregnacy and marriage. Finally, students underwent training on life skills to tranform their lives. Given that this area is econonically disadvantaged, these skills have enabled many of the students to help thier parents/guardians economically, as they continue with their learning.

Lead Implementing Organization(s)

Location(s)

Sub-Saharan Africa

Kenya

Activity URL

https://joedy.foundation/

Government Affiliation

Non-governmental program

Years

2021 - 2030

Partner(s)

CSRN

Ministry Affiliation

Unknown

Funder(s)

CSRN

COVID-19 Response

New for COVID-19

Geographic Scope

National

Meets gender-transformative education criteria from the TES  

Unknown

Areas of Work Back to Top

Education areas

Other skills

  • Life skills/sexuality education
  • Social and emotional learning

Quality

  • School-related gender-based violence
  • School violence

Skills

  • Other academic performance-related

Cross-cutting areas

  • Early/child marriage
  • Empowerment
  • Gender equality
  • Menstrual hygiene management
  • Mentorship
  • Sexual harassment & coercion
  • Violence (at home, in relationships)

Program participants

Target Audience(s)

Boys (both in school and out of school), Girls (both in school and out of school), Youth

Age

Not applicable or unknown

School Enrolment Status

Some in school

School Level

  • Lower primary
  • Upper primary
  • Lower secondary
  • Upper secondary

Other populations reached

  • Parent-teacher associations/school management committees
  • School administrators

Participants include

  • Adolescent mothers (pregnant or parenting)
  • Indigenous
  • Internal migrants (from other areas of the same country)
  • Orphans and vulnerable children
  • People living with HIV/AIDS
  • People with disabilities

Program Approaches Back to Top

Community engagement/advocacy/sensitization

  • General awareness-raising/community engagement

Curriculum/learning

  • Increased availability of learning materials

Educational Technology

  • Online training

Food/nutrition

  • Food for peace/relief

Health and childcare services

  • Adolescent-friendly health services
  • HIV prevention

Increased availability of learning materials

  • Increased availability of Writing materials

Life skills education

  • Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE)
  • Gender, rights and power
  • Sexual and reproductive health (including puberty education)
  • Social and emotional learning (SEL) skills building

Menstrual hygiene management

  • Educating girls about menstruation
  • Raising awareness about menstruation (beyond just girls)
  • Sanitary product distribution

Mentoring/psychosocial support

  • Teachers as mentors

Other

  • Informational interventions (e.g. returns to education)
  • Other activities to address/end violence (not captured above)
  • Other activities to end child marriage (not captured above)

Policy/legal environment

  • Advocating changes to existing laws/policies

Reducing economic barriers

  • Income-generating activities

School-related gender-based violence

  • Anti-violence policies and codes of conduct
  • Safe and welcoming schools
  • Safe channels/mechanisms for reporting violence
  • Support in and around schools (e.g. peer counseling, adult-to-student counseling)

Social/gender norms change

  • Engaging parents/caregivers of students or school-age children/adolescents
  • Group activities with students or school-age children/adolescents

Tutoring/strengthening academic skills

  • Literacy - outside the classroom

Women's empowerment programs

  • Leadership training

Show More

Program Goals Back to Top

Education goals

  • Improved critical thinking
  • Improved social and emotional learning/skills and mindsets
  • Increased enrolment in primary school
  • Increased grade attainment
  • Increased primary school completion
  • Increased progression to secondary school
  • Increased school completion (general)
  • Increased secondary school completion
  • Increased test scores

Cross-cutting goals

  • Improved critical consciousness
  • Improved health - other
  • Improved mental health
  • Improved sexual and reproductive health
  • Improved understanding of sexual harassment, coercion, and consent
  • Increased knowledge of HIV, puberty, and sexual and reproductive health
  • Increased knowledge of rights
  • More equitable gender attitudes and norms
  • Reduced adolescent pregnancy/childbearing
  • Reduced child marriage
  • Reduced school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV)
  • Reduced STI/HIV/AIDS
  • Reduced violence against children in the home

Additional Information Back to Top

Primary Contact

Adelyne Psirmoi
Joedy Foundation
ajoedyfoundation@gmail.com